LIGHTHOUSE

by
Starbhen

My Spiritual
Journey

(Continued)

(In
the last issue of this gazette, I talked about my mystical experience and how I
embarked on a search to know its meaning. In this issue, I’d like to talk
about some of the truths I have learned as I embarked on that search. Once
again, I urge the readers to keep an open mind for the mind is like a
parachute-it is only useful when it is open.)

What
is Truth? We
have been hearing about the saying, “And you shall know the truth and
the truth shall set you free.” To be set free, connotes that first of
all one is in bondage– the
bondage of sin which really means bondage to any or all of the five major vices
(anger, sex-lust, greed, attachment and ego) and their progenies (envy,
jealousy, slander, prejudice, resentment, etc.) And indeed all of us are in
bondage to anyone of those vices for so long now. How have we come to the
bondage of sin?

First,
let me try to define the word truth. I remember one definition of truth from a
movie I’ve seen in my younger days -“Truth is the justice you deny and
the wrongs you justify.”Another
was given by a spiritual teacher who said, "Truth is to remember what
we have forgotten.” That we have forgotten our true and eternal
identity which resulted in the lack of spiritual power is the
reason for almost all the problems we have today –confusion, chaos, conflict, sorrow, emptiness, etc.

What
then is our true and eternal identity?
God is a spirit and man (soul) is the same image and likeness. The soul, like
God is a conscious point of spiritual light energy and cannot be
seen by the physical eyes.Its task
is to animate or direct the body. It is the soul that brings the body to life.
In other words, the body without the soul has no life; but the soul
without the body cannot express life.Thus, we say death occurs when the soul leaves the body and the latter
returns to dustwhich it is
made of. But the soul cannot die. It is eternal. Its original nature is Purity,
Peace, Love, Happiness, Truth.

This
brings us to the concept of two kinds of energy: physical (body) and
non-physical (soul or mind). Physical energy is replenished by physical,
tangible quantities of food, water, while spiritual energy can only be
replenished by spiritual, intangible qualities of thought in the form of love,
truth, peace, etc.Today, we are
unsure of this difference and tend to mix the two; instead of seeing the body as
the package and the mind as the content, we see ourselves mainly as the body. We
spend a lot of time, energy and money looking after the body, but very little
time caring for the mind.

The
mind is the being with self-awareness, and the body is the human (humous),
which contains the being. This being which is our real selfis situated just above and behind the eyes. This is the driving seat from
which we instruct and direct the vehicle of our body. This is where we are
conscious of the world and of ourselves. In fact, we are consciousness
and our mind is our conscious ability to think. The mind is not separate from
us, but an integral part of us: the point of consciousness within the body. This
point of consciousness is the soul. You are a soul. I am a soul. All of
us are souls - tiny points of conscious light energy, eternal and
imperishable.The soul
cannot be created or destroyed. There is no such thing as death of the soul,
only death of the body, at which point the soul leaves the body and takes
another body (reincarnation).

Great
mistake we all made by identifying only with the physical form. –When we do this,
two things result: 1. We think all our experience comes to us through our
physical senses. 2. We create many identities or labels for others and
ourselves.

Experience
of the senses – When
we think the five senses of touch, sound, sight, taste and smell are our only
source of experience, we begin to rely on external things for our happiness and
peace. Food, music, films and cars give us pleasure and make us happy. However,
in the physical world, everything changes and comes to an end. And when those
sensual pleasures end we become unhappy and “peaceless.” We desire more and
a never-ending queue of desires follows. Our moods go up and down, conditioned
by how satisfied our physical senses are. When we don’t get what we want, we
become angry, and that anger can lead to violence. When we do get what we want,
we want more, so we become greedy.Or
show off what we got and we develop ego. All these things make us spiritually
powerless and unhappy, feeling ok one minute and not ok the next.

Traps
of different identities – When
we think, we are the physical form, the outer packing, we give it labels. Each
label is a different identity. National, political, family, religion,
profession, color, sex, is all labels. This results in two negative side
effects. First, we are never sure who we are. Which label is really me? And each
label or identity brings with it certain values and therefore certain ways of
thinking and acting. If there are too many identities, or ones we don’t like,
we react either against ourselves or against others. The result is once again
“peacelessness” or violence.

The
second side effect is to put labels on others. Black against white, Christian
against Muslim, nation against nation, labor against management and so on. Once
again the result is anger and conflict, contrary to our true nature and desire
for peace. And yet, it is easy to resolve both these mistakes, which are the
result of thinking of ourselves as physical. Instead, let us be aware of
ourselves as a soul, a conscious eternal being; a point of energy
with no physical identity. This resolves all conflict within ourselves as we
cease to identify with all those labels. There is no need to sustain or defend
them any longer and so we cannot be threatened. We then begin to see others as
the same, also souls, not merely physical costumes. This also resolves the
conflict between individuals and ultimately, if practiced by many, could resolve
conflict between nations.

This
realization of our identity as a soul is thus the key to experiencing our real
nature of peace, purity and happiness. This is the key to understanding
ourselves and harmonizing with others. Soul consciousness (not
body consciousness) is the key and the method to experience and cultivate it, is
meditation.

(Note:
That experience of mine where I found myself limitless happened because as I
surrendered myself completely to God, the Supreme Soul cleansed me of all my
impurities and lifted the veil of darkness and enlightenment set in.The barriers separating me, the soul or consciousness from the Supreme
Being were dissolved and I attained freedom from the confines of my gross body.
(That is why it is said that the kingdom of God is within us because in a moment
of total surrender to God, the contact is immediate.) At the same time, the
soundless voice that I heard, is really a communion (yoga) between soul to SOUL.
It means that in the spiritual dimension, the communication is done from mind to
mind, from intellect to intellect and the language is SILENCE. So,
there was no sound at all. While the experience lasted for some days, after
sometime, I returned to my usual self being a householder, caught up once again
in the day-to-day grind of earning a living. But, the experience is
unforgettable. During meditation, I experience moments of lightness and peace,
but still a far cry from that experience I had before.One day, I believe I would be able to recapture that experience through
constant and regular meditation and other spiritual disciplines.)

(To
be continued next issue. Topic is God. My reference of what I am
discussing here is the teachings of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual
University.)